ProShare Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in BlackRock $BLK

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 5.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 32,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,813 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $33,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in BlackRock by 100.0% in the first quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 200.0% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 27 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its position in BlackRock by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE BLK opened at $1,083.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.86 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $1,129.11 and its 200 day moving average is $1,072.92. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,219.94. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The asset manager reported $11.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.78 by ($0.23). BlackRock had a net margin of 26.64% and a return on equity of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $11.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research lowered BlackRock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,394.00 to $1,456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,303.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Rachel Lord sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,165.04, for a total value of $13,980,480.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,394,113.20. This represents a 62.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.